Wringer



June 6, 1944. I H. B. FAY

WRINGE R Original Filed Nov. '10, '19s"! III5 1 :7 z

Patented June 6, 1944 WBJNGER Horace B. Fay, Willougliby, Ohio,

Automatic Safety Wrlnger Company, nership composed of Charles ShakerHeights, Horace B. Fay,

Williams, Shaker Heights, Ohio and Charles W.

assignor to a part- B. Williams, Wilioiighby Substituted for abandonedapplication Serial No.

173,859, November 10, "1937. This application January 8, 1943, SerialNo. 471,117

4 Claims.

This invention pertains to a clothes wringer employing a pair of rollsto extract water from material fed therebetween and is adapted for useon the ordinary power-driven domestic washing machine. o

The operator of a power-driven wringer is frequently injured byaccidentally feeding herringers between the the pressure rolls and inhigh pressure rolls and seriously crushing any portion of the hand andarm passingtherethrough.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a warning deviceadjacent the intake bite to prevent the operator from inadvertentlyfeeding her fingers into the pressure roll bite.

More specific objects of the invention will become apparent from thespecification and drawing and the novel features are summarized in theclaims.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation wringer;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same as indicated by the lines2,-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a detail showing the guard roll and stripper mounting.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that a substantially conventionaltwo-mil wringer is attached to the conventional-washing machine post lthrough a reversible drive head I resting thereof improved on. The'headcomprises a shaft carrying a pair of bevel gears adapted to engage'athird gear and drive the rolls in either directiomdependmg on which ofthe pairs of gears drivingly engages the third gear. A suitable shifthandle It is provided to alternate the drive between respective bevelgears when rotation of the rolls is desired. All this is accomplished ina well-known manner and is not further explained.

Secured to the head 1 is a main frame It carrying a pair of wringingrolls, preferably mounted one above the other. The lower roll,designated at i2, is rotatably carried in the frame and driven from thehead mechanism just described. The top roll 15 is not only rotatablycarried, but is bodily shiftable vertically to accommodate articles atthe bite between the two rolls. Suitable springs l8 hear at one endagainst-the roll it and at the other end against the top of the frame IIto urge the two rolls together with resilient pressure in a well-knownmanner. Drain boards 20 are provided on each side of the roll ii tofacilitate removal of water extracted'from the clothesandtoaidinfeedins.

My improved safety device comprises warning or guard rollers carried onan axis parallel with feed or drain boards gagement therewith, as shownin Fig. 2. I provide a plurality of deeply fluted rubber guard rollers25 suitably journaled at the ends of the wringer. The guard rollersmaintain suiiicient frictional contact with the adjacent wringer roll tobe rotated by the former.

The rollers are each supported in slots "which are substantiallyconcentric with the adjacent roll surface and are urged downwardly bysprings '21 to normally lie in the position shown. The

rollers are journalled'in members 30 which are provided with lugsextending axially of the rolls 2t and thus prevent til radially aboutthe to lie in respective slots shifting of the members guard rollers 25.

It will be noted, referring guard rollers rotate insucb impede thefeedin sure roll bite. 'Thus, material to the roll bite,

if the operator, in feeding inadvertently moves her fingers too close tothe pressure rolls, they will be I sharply struck by the adjacent flutedguard roller.

turning in a direction such as to push her fingers away from thewringer. guard roller serves two subconsciously sure roll bite.Secondly, finger tips due to the deep fluting of the fingers between therolls.

. To provide adequate safety to the operator the 20 are adapted tocoact-witlfi; to define a limited space the adjacent rollers 25 befed'to the roll bite. with this coactio under normal conditions, theoperator will push clothes over the intake feed board into the rollbite. If. however. she allows her hands to approach too closely thepressure roll. bite, the top portions will be sharplystruck by theadjacent fluted roller 25 in the manner. above set out. To accomplishthis, feed boards 20 are spaced as shown adiacent the top of the lowerroll and in a position to closely approach the roll bite. In ordinaryoperation it is desirable to space the said feed boards from theadjacent roller 25 far enough to permit passage of clothes to theroller, but not far' enough to permit the operatorshand when in wringingposition, passing between the feed board and roller without being struckby the latter.

The rollers 25 and feed or drain are duplicatedon each side of thewringer to frictional driving ento Fig. 2, that the a direction as to ofmaterial to the main pres- This reversely turning functions. First, itacts; as a warning to the operator and causes her. tot, jerk her handaway from the presthe rolls engage the, thereon provide positiveresistance to the furtherpassage boards It roller. 'I'hese.strippers areon the out-feed side 4 of the wringer to strip clothes from the pressurerolls and prevent their passage between a rolland adjacent guard roller.The strippers are fixedly supported at their ends in bracket members II.This prevents shifting of the said strippers and at the same timemaintains them in proper position with respect to the roll II as themembers are guided up and down in the slots 2! during operation oi thedevice. It will be apparent that in a wringer employing the upper guardrollers there is very little, tendency for the clothes to, pass betweenthe roll and rollers, since they normally fall downwardly over theoutfeed drain board.

A stripper is associated with each guard roller 2! and is mounted tomove with the roller when the same is bodily shiftedin slots 26. To thisend, brackets ll support each stripper 28 at each end and likewiseembrace each end of the adjacent roll 25 to provide for common movementof the guard roller and its associated stripper. When the guard roller25 and adjacent stripper 28 are shiftably mounted in slot 26, asheretofore stated, the roller is urged upwardly against the spring 21 ifan excess thickness of material does pass the roller and into thewringer. This movement may be utilized as explained in con-' nectionwith the guard ill in the patent to Charles w. Williams 'No. 2,299,777,issued October 27, 1942, to actuate suitable further safety mechanism tostop the wrinser action as there shown and described.

I desire to make clear that my improved guard roller safety device maybe employed in other installations than the two-roll wringer shown and,further, that I do not limit myselr toguard rollers on both sides of thewringer. In cases where there is no roll reversing there need be noduplication of guard rollers.

It will be apparent from the foregoing d tion that I have provided arolling device to prevent injury to an operator, which device alsofunctions positively to provide resistance to any Other modes of,applying the principle ofmy invention may be employed instead of the oneexplained, change being made as regards the mechanism herein disclosed,provided the means stated by any of the following claims or theequivalent of such stated means be employed.

This application is a substitute for abandoned application Serial No.173,859 filed Nov. Ill, 1937, entitled "Wrin'ger."

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In a wringer, a frame, a pair of horizontally mounted rolls in saidframe to, establish a clothes gripping bite therebetween, power means todrive said rolls, reverse mechanism to reverse the roll rotation, aguard roller adjacent the top roll and on each side of the bite, meansto rotate said rollers in a direction opposite to the direction ofrotation of the adjacent roll, feed boards-carried by said frame, one oneach side of the lower roll and coacting with respective guard rollersto define a limited space on each side of the wringer through whichmaterial may be fed to said clothes gripping bite, and a stripper memberinterposed between each guard roller and its associated roll to preventclothes from passing between the roller and roll.

; 2. In a wringer, a frame, a pair of rolls in said frame coacting toestablish a clothes gripping bite therebetween, means to drive saidrolls, aguard roller contacting a side of one roll, and a strippercompletely interposed between each roller and pressure roll bite.

the associated roll, said roller being capable of resilient movementsubstantially tangent to said roll.

3. In a wringer, a frame, a pair of rolls in said frame coacting toestablish a clothes gripping bite therebetween, a guard rollercontacting one of said rolls and a substantially triangular strippercompletely interposed between said one of said rolls and said roller,said stripper being in close contact with said one roll and with saidroller for simultaneously stripping clothes. from said one roll and fromsaid roller. 7

4. In a wringer, a frame, a pair of rolls in said frame coacting toestablish a clothes gripping bite therebetween, a guard roller coactingone of said rolls and a substantially triangular strip per completelyinterposed between said one of said rolls and said roller, two of thesides of said stripper being concave, one of said sides being in closecontact with said one roll and the other of said sides being in closecontact with said roller one roll and from said roller.

HORACE B. FAY.

